Shaukat Aziz (born March 6, 1949, Karachi, Pakistan) is
the current Finance Minister and Prime Minister of Pakistan. He became Finance Minister
in November, 1999 and was nominated for the position of Prime Minister after the resignation of Zafarullah Khan Jamali on June 6, 2004. He became Prime Minister on August 28, 2004.
Education
Aziz attended Saint Patrick’s School, Karachi and Abbottabad Public School, Abbottabad. Graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Gordon College, Rawalpindi, in 1967. Obtained MBA
Degree in 1969 from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.
Career
Citibank executive
In 1969, he joined Citibank, serving in various countries, including Pakistan,
Greece, the United States, the
United Kingdom, Malaysia,
Singapore, and others. He served as Citibank's head of Corporate and Investment
Banking for various regions, including the Asia Pacific Region, Central & Eastern Europe, and the Middle East And Africa; as
Corporate Planning Officer, Citicorp; as a country Manager for Citibank in Malaysia and in Jordan. He has been a board member of
Citibank subsidiaries including Saudi American Bank, Citicorp Islamic Bank, and of several non-profit organizations. He was
appointed Executive Vice President of Citibank in 1992, reporting directly to the Chairman/CEO. Before taking leave from
Citigroup, he was the head of its global Private Banking division.
Finance Minister
In November, 1999, Mr. Aziz became Pakistan’s Minister of Finance, with responsibility for
Finance, Economic Affairs, Statistics, Planning and Development, and Revenue Divisions. As Minister of finance, Mr. Aziz also heads the
Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet, the Cabinet Committee on Investment, the Executive Committee of the National
Economic Council and the Cabinet Committee on Privatization.
In 2001, Mr Aziz was declared 'Finance Minister of the Year' by Euromoney and Banker's Magazine. His
term as Finance Minister has been associated with accelarating growth in the Pakistani economy.
Prime Minister
Mr. Aziz was named by the Pakistan Muslim
League (Q) as the next Prime Minister after
the resignation of Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali
on June 6, 2004. The post was held by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain while Mr. Aziz secured a seat in
the lower house of parliament. (He was already a member of the Senate.)
On July 29, 2004, Aziz survived an
assassination attempt in Fateh Jang,
Pakistan, a small town west of Islamabad. A suicide bomber blew himself up next to the car in which Aziz was travelling and while Aziz survived
the attack his chauffeur was killed along with eight other people in the vicinity. Over 50 people were injured in the attack for
which al Qaeda later claimed responsibility.
Shaukat Aziz was elected Prime Minister by the Parliament on August 27,
2004, by a vote of 191 to 151, and sworn in on August 28, 2004. He retained his position as Minister of Finance.
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